Railway crossing guard block



Dec. 4, 1962 H. s. BISHOP 3,066,869

RAILWAY CROSSING GUARD BLOCK Filed Jan. 3, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN V EN TOR.

HOMER S. BISHOP BY (mp gm ATTORNEYS Dec. 4, 1962 H. s. BISHOP RAILWAY CROSSING GUARD BLOCK 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 3, 1962 INVEN TOR.

HOMER S. BISHOP BY ATTORNEYS United States Patent Ofilice 3,666,869 Patented Dec. 4, 1952 RAILWAY CROSSING GUARD BLOCK Homer S. Bishop, Charleston, W. Va., assignor to Kasle Steel Corporation, Detroit, Mich.

Filed Jan. 3, 1962, Ser. No. 164,033 1 Claim. (Cl. 238-9) This invention relates to a flangeway bar guard block and more particularly to a block for holding a guard bar spaced from and parallel to a railroad rail so as to provide a space adjacent the rail to receive a railroad car flanged wheel when the track is surrounded by street paving or the like, and to provide a smooth road surface or crossing for motor vehicles over the railroad track and for bounding the paving.

This application is a continuation-in-part of my earlier filed application, Serial No. 82,551, filed January 13, 1961, now abandoned, and discloses an improvement over the block shown in my Patent No. 2,789,771 of April 23, 1957.

It is an object of this invention to provide a flangeway bar guard block which may be used to hold a guard bar adjacent a railroad rail, and which may be easily and quickly connected to the railroad rail and at the same time be capable of sustaining extremely heavy loads of motor vehicle trafic crossing the railroad tracks.

Another object of this invention is to provide a flangeway bar guard block provided with a channel for enveloping the foot or base of the railroad rail so as to hold the block to the rail rigidly and at the same time be sufficiently strong to sustain heavy loads.

These and other objects of my invention will become apparent upon reading the following description of which the attached drawings form a part.

In these drawings:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a railroad rail and street pavement surrounding the rail and showing a guard bar in position and supported by a block connected to the rail.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary section on line 22 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a view as on line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show parts per se.

Where railroad tracks cross a street or motor vehicle pass-over, it is common practice to pave up to the track in order to eliminate the bumps of the roadway upon the vehicles crossing the tracks. However, in this situation, it is necessary to prevent the paving from completely surrounding the rail, since railroad wheels are provided with flanges which ride parallel to the rail and therefore must have clearance to pass along one side of the railroad rail.

Thus, in paving such a track and street intersection, it is common to provide a guard bar which is spaced from the rail on one side thereof to provide a channel to receive the flange of the railroad wheel.

FIGS. l-S show a rail it and a block 11 supporting a right angle guard bar 12 spaced from and parallel to the rail 10. The street paving may extend up to the guard bar 12 but not to the rail itself, thereby providing clearance or a flangeway F for the wheel flange.

The rail, which is conventional, comprises a head 15 upon which a wheel rides, a riser 16 supporting the head and integral with a foot 17 which has two halves l8 and 19 extending a sufficient distance to form a good support for the weight imposed upon the head 35.

My novel block it comprises a body portion 25 provided with a right angularly shaped channel 26 into which the right angularly shaped bar 12, is inserted and supported and fastened by set screws 36 in holes 3'7. A number of bar guard blocks are used and are spaced apart two to three or more feet depending upon the expected load, to hold the long and continuous bar guard 12 in proper parallel relationship with the long and continuous rail 19.

Body 25 of the block is provided with a side 27, slotted at 23, and tapered in shape to conform to the contour of foot portion iii and being deeper than the width of the foot portion to wedgingly receive the foot portion i3. Thus, such side of the block is nestled against the riser 16 of the rail to. In addition, the body portion is provided with a shoulder 29 which fits snugly underneath the under portion of the head 15 of the rail 10; and a base 39 under the rail foot portion 18.

Means are provided for fastening the block to the rail. This fastening means comprises a bolt 31 in a hole 32 of the block and having an upwardly sloping hook 33 adapted to fit around the foot portion 19 of the rail. The belt is threaded at 34 to receive a nut 35.

The foot portion 18 of the rail extends into the slot 28 of the body 25 and against base 30, which is of substantial thickness to support and reinforce the bolt, bolt hole and rail foot. The bolt 31 is spaced a short distance below the rail foot which reduces vibrations transmitted through the rail to thereby prevent loosening of nut 35. In addition, the bolt and its hook 33, not only tightly wedge the rail foot part 1?, into the slot 28, but also applies a torque to the rail foot portion 19, which would be in a clock-wise direction, as seen in FIG. 2, to tend to rotate the rail relative to the block to thus produce an even more rigid and tight connection between the block and the rail and to resist loosening due to vibrations and applied loads.

Load on rail it) is absorbed by block base 3%. The horizontal part ll of bar 12 prevents debris from falling deep down in the wheel fiangeway F between rail 11 and the edge of the pavement P bounded by the vertical part 42 of the bar 12.

This invention may be further developed within the scope of the following attached claim and accordingly, it is desired that the foregoing description be read as being merely illustrative of one operative embodiment of my invention and not in a strictly limiting sense. Having fully described one operative embodiment of my invention, it new claim:

A fiangeway bar guard and block combination for attachment to a mounted rail having a vertical riser topped by an enlarged head upon which a wheel may ride and with a support foot having two side portions, each extending horizontally from each side of the riser, with the foot portions sloping down from the riser to their edges; the block being arranged for holding a guard bar in spaced, parallel, and rigid relationship to the rail and for bounding a pavement; said guard block comprising a body portion having a vertical side formed complementary to the riser of the rail and formed to rest against the riser and to fit against the foot and the head of the rail and having an upwardly opening angle channel spaced from said side for the reception of an angle shaped guard bar; the block having a horizontal slot in said side directly below the angle channel for receiving one side portion of the rail foot spaced well above the lower surface of the block so that the block has a substantial part under the rail foot; said slot being deeper than the width of a rail side portion and being tapered from its mouth to its base, the taper corresponding to the slope of said side portion for snugly receiving and for full face to face contact between the top and bottom faces of the slot and the top and bottom faces of the side portion from its junction with the riser to its edge; said block having a horizontal bolt hole directly below and closely adjacent to the slot and well above the bottom of the block; the block portion below its slot being of a vertical dimension considerably greater than that of the bolt hole, so that the block part under the bolt hole is of considerable thickness to provide a support under the bolt hole and the rail foot; and a horizontally arranged bolt extending through the bolt hole and arranged to extend beneath but spaced a short distance beneath the entire foot of the rail and having one end bent into a hook for engaging over the edge of the foot side portion which is remote from the block and a threaded nut threadediy engaged on its opposite end and engaging the block surface opposite to said slotted side and for drawing the hooked end towards the slot and thus Wedging said one side portion tightly into the slot.

Referenees titted in the fiie of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Orrock July 12, Bodkin May 4, Robinson Apr. 19, Bishop Apr. 23, Steele et a1 Mar. 18, 

